Beer Budget

300 a month

 

hm, what the hell good can come out of this thread. Would my beer budget include what I bring home, or what I drink out at bars too. I have a wallet full of receipts from last weekend.... As I said, what the hell good can come out of this thread

 

No doesn't offend me, not something I like to think about. Self reflection on this makes me want to drink more

 

My only advise is always plan to exceed your budget.

 

I don't have a budget. I actually calculated how much I spent on beer at the end of 2014, it was quite depressing. I won't be doing that again.

 

I do it pretty much as the op does. Everyday beer which is usually my home brew. My budget goes to more expensive things to celebrate with. The biggest part of my budget is tap socials and tastings at a local place (state line in md) where i do research

 

My wife thinks it's $50, I don't know what it really is....plausible denial.

 

I try to spend as little as I can
edit: and still enjoy my life

 

When a single stop for beer starts to reach $100 I try to stop... Unfortunately I take too many such trips.

 

I was tricked by the idea that homebrewing will make things cheaper....all delicious lies.

Trying to find a low cost ($8 or less per sixer) alternative to getting a different $12 mix six each week.

 

I buy whatever I want. I generally try to stay under $50 in a beer trip but that varies. No need to budget for me. I know when I have expendable cash.

 

I only buy beer after I have food, and shelter, I get a lot of free t-shirts in the process so most of my clothing budget can be spent on more beer. I'm not sure of the dollar value but I'm starting to question my priorities in life. If drank thicker beer I could spend less money on food and I've seen many people use cardboard beer boxes for shelter so again I think I'm pissing away my beer budget on "necessities".

 

Did my wife send you here to ask that question?
I'm not falling for that trick.

 

Well, If I brew a lower gravity beer I can usually get out for less then 40 bucks and I end up with roughly 2 cases. That sounds pretty economical for good beer. The issue of course is when you start to calculate how much I spend on the chest freezer, temp controller, a new hydrometer to replace the broken one, that cool drill attachment carboy cleaner, the replacement high temp tubing... well you get the idea. To be honest I didn't start brewing to save money. I started brewing to try and make the best damned beer I could. Besides, my wife never complains about how much I spend on brewing. So that's kind of a win right there

 

I spend about $40 a week on it. Generally half goes in the cellar, and half goes in my mouth.
It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have other expensive hobbies (I collect Lego and retro video games. Neither are cheap).

I've been discussing lately with my girlfriend that I need to focus on one or two hobbies :/
She doesn't care what I waste my money on, but I've been feeling a decent amount of guilt lately.

 

For sure! I've only had a few brew sessions so far, so my "start up" costs are still high, making my cost per bottle high. Hopefully I'll be able to settle into a set of equipment and only pay for cost of materials/ingredients in the near future. Next on the list is either a Galaxy or Fuggles IPA! (amber just about all drunk, saison just bottled)

 

I've done dozens of batches and the equipment costs are considerably more amortized. There is of course the cost of replacing some of the worn out stuff, but that's not too bad. The thing for me is now that I've gotten more experience, I'm looking to step up to more 'pro' oriented gear. I've started to eyeball small stainless conical fermenters, high temp pumps, better burner, etc... in other words.. cha-ching!

 

Yep, those product catalogs included in each order can be dangerous...

At least it isn't a boat!

 

No budget. I probably average about $100-150 a month, but some months are more and others less...